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Friday, September 4, 2015

It's finally ours

We closed on our Minnesota home August 26th, and closed on our Illinois home yesterday! We were so pumped to get in and start working that we did exactly that after we were finally released from the longest, most drawn-out closing ever. Thanks, idiot lender. Anyway, here is the main level of the home all cleared out so you can see the SPACE and DATEDNESS.

I am not even going to comment on the main bathroom because it seriously needs about 11 posts of it's own.

It took us about 30 seconds to start tearing things apart. The granny window treatments were the first to go.

The big window in the living room had immobile sheers, I just can't imagine never opening them! All the draperies and ugly plastic blinds from the bedrooms ended up in a pile in the living room.

We removed the carpet from each and every room, the room that will be Ashford's had the craziest carpet padding that stained everything orange. I'm pretty sure the carpet in this room was from the 70s or earlier, it was filthy and bubbling everywhere.

We left the pads down so we could paint the ceilings and walls without getting anything on the wood floors.

We were also relieved to see the stair treads were solid oak and not soft pine like the last house. I'm still wrestling with railing ideas, unfortunately it will not be changed right now, so it will be honey oak even after we refinish the steps and main level floors

I have no idea how we will get the awful paneling adhesive off the wall of the guest room. I've dealt with this once (poorly) before with some scraping and sanding, but the swirls were always sort of visible....so I'm looking for a solution that doesn't involve re-drywalling.

The living room awaiting ceiling and wall paint...I can't wait to cover the odd fleshy salmon color. We are also replacing all the trim in the house with simple white.

12 comments:

Congratulations! Leaving the padding down while you paint is king. Home Depot and Menards are right around the corner. Can't wait to see the progress. Sorry this weekend is sooo hot. Thought of another lake option.

You can try what I just did with a wall in my home recently. I made shallow cuts around the damaged areas and peeled the top layer of the sheet rock and mastic away. Once it was covered with joint compound, you could hardly tell where it was. The trick is to have a clean edge on the cuts. Good luck!

Woah! You guys are already making so much progress!!! Good for you. I bought paint for the living room like a week ago and haven't gotten around to more than trimming the windows... Ugh. Can't wait to see more!

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in the Chicago area trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my sons are at school. Ashford is 7, and our second baby Zach just turned 4, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, craft beer, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.